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25 expat voices: Barbara MacKinnon vda. de Montes

In their own words

By Inside México Original Print Publication: February, 2009

For the "25 Mexicans You Should Know" edition of Inside México (November 2007) our editorial team sat in a room for hours, proposing and debating names of candidates, eventually whittling the list to a mix of well and less-well-known figures, each illuminating some aspect of this country.

For "25 Expats," we decided to do something different. We put the word out. We invited you, our readers, to tell us who to highlight. E-mailed nominations poured in from around the country, and several of you even called. 

This inaugural group of 2009 finalists is a diverse bunch in terms of where they are from, where they live and what they do. You've helped us round up the expat equivalent of the "butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker." In this case, however, it is the activist, the developer and the expat filmmaker...and the dog rescuer, the theater founder, the birder, and the book store owner. The list goes on.

The common thread running through each selection is the effort these people make to build community between expats and Mexicans.  We think that by doing so, they are helping to expand the definition of Mexico. That is what immigrants do. 

Expat: Barbara MacKinnon vda. de Montes

Organization: Yucatán Bird Festival

Website: yucatanbirds.org.mx

Barbara MacKinnon in the field, recording bird songs in the Yucatan.

Related Multimedia

Ana Prado

We asked our 25 featured expats if they have a specific Mexico “moment” or memory—something that always makes them think, “Yep, this is home,” or “That’s what I love about this place.” View Slideshow >>

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Originally from: Tarrytown, New York.

Lives in: Mérida, Yucatán since 1992-I previously lived in Yelapa, Jalisco; DF; San Carlos, Sonora; Chixchulub, Yucatán; Isla Mujeres and Cancún, Quintana Roo for sixteen years.

Living in Mexico: Forty years.

Why did you move to Mexico?

I came on vacation-having cancelled a ski vacation due to a minor injury from a car accident on the Golden Gate Bridge when I lived in Sausalito, California-and met my Yucatecan husband-to-be on the beach in Puerto Vallarta. We were married there four months later in 1969. 

Tell us about your work in the Festival de Aves and environmental preservation on the Yucatán Peninsula.

My interest in birds grew as a hobby until birds and their conservation became my life's passion. After designing and leading tours for the National Audubon Society for three years, I earned a living selling timeshare condominiums in Cancún from 1979 until 1988, when I decided to spend all my time working in conservation. I was invited to become a founding member of Amigos de Sian Ka'an [a biosphere south of Tulum, see Inside México July-August 2008] in 1986, because I had a reputation as a birdwatcher while living in Cancún. In Quintana Roo in those days, conservationists were few and far between, and then-governor Pedro Joaquín asked that the president of the Sian Ka´an be from the state. I was already a Mexican national at the time and was elected President. My conservation work later resulted in my being asked to be the Co-ordinator of the Yucatan Bird Festival in conjunction with the State Secretary of Tourism and other NGOs. I did that for four years and I still volunteer on the Organizing Committee.

Why has environmental preservation in the Yucatán been so important to you?

Conservation of the Yucatán's natural resources became my passion-along with birds that depend upon healthy habitats-when I saw the landscape of Cancún and the surrounding area change so drastically in such a short time (I lived in Cancún from 1976 to 1992). In 1977 and 1978 I had access to three-quarters of Isla Cancún, using it as my private outdoor "laboratory" as I searched for birds among the dense vegetation. The only other people in the area were Don Erlindo, the caretaker for INAH [the National Institute for Anthropology and History] at the El Rey ruins, and two coconut plantation workmen. It's conversion to cement overwhelmed me.

Most everything I do now is bird-related. I am a member of the Alliance for the Conservation of Birds of the Yucatán Peninsula (AAPY) and a volunteer editor for the American Birding Association's North American Birds Magazine, which means preparing a quarterly report on unusual distributional information and new bird species for the Yucatán Peninsula. I help visiting birdwatchers contact and hire local bird guides, and I participate in national meetings organized by CONABIO (the National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity) related to birds and their conservation. In recent years I have been recording bird songs. A soon-to-be-released product, two interactive CD-Roms on "200 Birds of the Yucatán Peninsula" in English and Spanish, for PC and Mac, will be the result of this work. I also am consulting with Catherwood Travels in Mérida to increase birding tourism to the region as a benefit to rural communities.

What has this work added to your life in Mexico?

Seeing how the self-esteem of rural people who lacked formal education grew as a result of my bird guide training workshops enriched my life incredibly. All they needed was to be shown that they possessed valuable knowledge that could improve their economic condition.

Do you have a specific Mexico "moment" that makes you think, "That's what I love about this place"?

I straddled a fence between cultures during my first three years, until I returned from my second trip back to the US. Upon my return I knew I had arrived "home".

 What are both the best and the hardest things about being an expat in Mexico?

The best is taking advantage of being a "foreigner," which permits me the freedom to live a different kind of life without social criticism. The most difficult (I would say exasperating as nothing is really difficult) is living in tourist centers and being taken for a tourist when I know the area better than the locals!

 

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Submitted by Keith Russel on February 23, 2010 - 23:37.

Mexico is indeed one of the most intriguing places to visit. I am not sure that the concept of selling timeshares is practiced and followed there but its a great way to go about if you would like to spend time at a place of your choice frequently. If you like a place as a vacation spot and would like to visit it more often or if you own a property at such place then selling timeshares to earn income from your property.

Keith